Saturday, June 03, 2017

Chemo Stopped

By the time Scott and I got home yesterday, I was not in the shape to post this or do much of anything.  There has been a massive screwup at the hospital with Sandi's chemo.

There are multiple drugs in her chemo cocktail and they are supposed to run into her in a certain sequence. The second drug they gave her Thursday and Friday was the wrong drug because somebody down in pharmacology read the order wrong. The wrong drug name got into the system wrong and therefore when the nurses on the floor did their checks they did not catch the error. It was only after yet another nurse doing a quality control audit independent of everybody else finally caught the error yesterday afternoon.

This easily could be disastrous in terms of Sandi's liver and kidneys. The early tests they did last night and this morning as they ran multiple drugs of different types indicated that things were preliminarily looking okay. As far as she knows this morning that is still true.

But, her doctor has come in this morning in the last hour and explained to her that the chemo is not just delayed, but stopped all together while they deal with this issue. Later today, somebody is going to come in and hook some sort of port device into her existing port beneath the skin. This second port, which will be external and hooked into her current port, will allow them to do some sort of transfusion deal where they will drain bad stuff out of her and pump in good stuff. I don't really know how this is supposed to work.

This process could take five days. It depends on how she does and what results they get back. They think she is okay, but they are doing this to try and make sure she suffers no permanent liver or kidney damage. Both were not in that good a shape as it was and this disaster certainly has not been good for either one.

As to the chemo.....it looks like it basically has to be done all over from day one. Whether they will do that in the hospital right after this deal and just keep her in there through his office everyday for five days, or what we don't know. The doctor isn't worried about that right now. He is very concerned about what has been done to her and trying to mitigate the massive screwup.

You know it is really bad when multiple bigwigs in charge of various things at the hospital all come  down in teams and separately to apologize profusely and to let her know they are willing to do anything for her. All that is well and good, but it does not turn the clock back and fix anything.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Holy crap!

Jerry House said...

Yikes! Murphy's Law strikes. Hoping that no damage was done and that proper treatment can continue smoothly. Stay Strong, Tipples.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Further update---this is treated the same way a stem cell transplant is done. That means she is now in isolation and can have no visitors and will be hooked up to some sort of dialysis type machine. She is under strict quarantine isolation rules so she can't have her yarn or crochet, her cell phone, or anything.

Caroline Clemmons said...

Dear Kevin, you and Sandi and Scott have been through hell and back, haven't you? I am thinking of you--not that it's helpful to you--and praying for you, which I hope IS helpful. I'm sure our families must be related. But Sandi is amazing in her willpower and desire to survive. Blessings on your family!

Kaye George said...

What a nightmare! The only good thing I see is that the doctor has admitted a mistake was made and they're doing everything they can to make it as good as they can. Ugh, double, triple ugh!

Maureen Harrington said...

This breaks my heart and makes me angry. I wish I had something concrete to do that would help, but I can only pray and be available as a friend.

The procedure you describe sounds like dialysis which cleanses the blood. As I understand it two ports are needed, because one tube carries blood from the patient to the dialysis machine, and the other returns the filtered blood to circulation.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Yes, it is that sort of deal. This is supposed to take out something bad that is still in her, clean it, and then send it back through. Instead of hooking this up to her port as they promised they would, they have gone and installed a line into her neck on her right side where they did it before at Mayo for the stem cell transplant. Since they did that she has been in tremendous pain and can't use her right arm which is her dominant side.

I got a message from her a few minutes ago that she had been to the bathroom and they were giving her more pain meds. I don't know if they have taken her down at any point today to the isolation room and done the planned treatment or not. I really don't know much of anything.

I am way worse than normal today so Scott and I stayed home. If I can, I am going down tomorrow and hope to see her at some point.

Elizabeth said...

Prayers & best wishes.

Maureen Harrington said...

Again, as I understand it, usually chemo isn't done while dialysing, because the chemicals used to treat would be cleansed from the blood. I don't know how the medical team makes their decision on this matter, but this decision is one I've heard before. It sounds standard. Have you met with the treatment team when they've conferred? Or have you had a one-to-one sit down with Sandi's specialist in charge? Infection is a major concern, yes.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

There is NO chemo as they screwed it up which is why we now have this problem. Because of my own health issues, which have really flared the last day, I stayed home today and out of everyone's hair.

Maureen Harrington said...

I am so sorry that I have upset you. We were recently through this with Jeanie. I was trying only to be helpful which was a terrible mistake that truly came through the loss of Jeanie and the hope of somehow being there for you the way our friends have been here for us.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Reine????? No, you have not upset me at all. I know you are helping. Nothing to apologize for and no reason to feel you did something wrong. Not sure how you got that from what I posted. Anyway, everything is good.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

And thank you everyone.....I don't know anything about her deal today. I plan on going down later today and hopefully will be allowed to see her.

Maureen Harrington said...

Thank you, Kevin. I'm sorry. I think it's just so close to what we've recently gone through that my mind can't sort it all out. Just know I'm here and have you and your family in my heart.